N. Korea Alerts Int’l Agencies of Satellite Launch

Pyongyang notified three United Nations agencies about an Earth observation satellite it will put into orbit, sometime between February 8th and 25th.

Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a regular press briefing that if the DPRK conducts any significant provocations going forward, there is a possibility for it to happen all of a sudden.

A man watches a news report on North Korea’s first hydrogen bomb test at a railroad station in Seoul on January 6, 2016.

The DPRK is entitled to peaceful use of outer space, yet this right is restricted by resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, Lu said.

South Korea’s presidential national security council held an emergency meeting Wednesday morning to discuss how to deal with North Korea’s missile launch plan, and Cho made an announcement of the country’s official stance after the meeting.

The PAC-2 can shoot down missiles at an altitude of about 15 km, one of key factors of South Korea’s own missile defense system, called the Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD), together with long-range surface-to-air missiles (L-SAM) and medium-range surface-to-air missiles (M-SAM) that are being developed with indigenous technology.

The islands of Ishigakijima and Miyakojima lie under the missile’s trajectory.

The worldwide community has urged North Korea to withdraw the satellite launch plan because the launch is considered a cover for a test of the North’s ballistic missile technology. The remark hints that, since North Korea has already chose to launch the rocket, there are limits on China’s influence.

Mr Ban also called upon North Korean to refrain from using ballistic missile technology and work for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.